News releases

Rezidor announces the Radisson Blu Hotel Abidjan Airport, Ivory Coast

Brussels | June 18, 2012

Rezidor announces its very first hotel in Ivory Coast: The Radisson Blu Hotel Abidjan Airport featuring 252 rooms is scheduled to welcome the first guests in Q3 2014. The foundation stone ceremony for the First-Class property was celebrated in Abidjan in presence of Cesse Kome of Ste Koira Investment, the Ivorian owner of the property, and Kurt Ritter, President & CEO of Rezidor. Rezidor operates the brands Radisson Blu, Park Inn by Radisson, and Hotel Missoni. The dynamic and fast growing company is a member of the Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group, the 10th largest hotel group worldwide.

“We are delighted to extend our portfolio to Ivory Coast and to further strengthen our good and personal relationship with Cesse Kome who also owns the Radisson Blu Hotel Bamako in Mali. The African continent is one of our key focus areas for future business development, and we are proud to have the largest pipeline of hotel rooms under development in sub-Saharan Africa”, said Kurt Ritter.

The new Radisson Blu Hotel Abidjan Airport will be located at Abidjan-Port Bouet (Route de l'Aéroport d'Abidjan). In addition to 252 modern guest rooms, the building will offer a business class lounge, an air crew lounge, retail stores, a bar, an all day dining restaurant, a private dining area, an outdoor terrace, an outdoor swimming pool, a business centre, 7 conference- and meeting rooms, and a ballroom.

Rezidor arrived in Africa in 1999 with the opening of the Radisson Blu Waterfront Hotel, Cape Town. Today, the group is present in 20 countries across the African continent – with 47 hotels and more than 11,000 rooms in operation and under development. Recent flagship openings include Radisson Blu hotels in Lagos/Nigeria, Addis Ababa/Ethiopia, Dakar/Senegal, and Johannesburg/South Africa – further Radisson Blu hotels will be launched in capital cities such as Maputo/Mozambique, Lusaka/Zambia, and Kigali/Rwanda.

Radisson Blu is a full service First Class-brand – known for contemporary architecture and design, signature services like free high speed internet access, and personal attention to detail according to the chain’s unique service philosophy “Yes I Can”. Radisson Blu is Europe’s largest upper upscale brand, and ambitiously grows in emerging markets like Africa and Russia/CIS. Rezidor’s strategic partner Carlson also brings the brand to key destinations in the Americas and Asia-Pacific.

About the Carlson Rezidor Hotel GroupThe Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group – born in early 2012 – is one of the world’s largest and most dynamic hotel groups. The portfolio of the Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group includes more than 1,300 hotels, a global footprint spanning 80 countries, a powerful set of global brands (Radisson Blu, Radisson®, Country Inns & Suites By CarlsonSM, Park Inn by Radisson, Hotel Missoni and Park Plaza®). In most of the group’s hotels, guests can benefit from the loyalty program Club Carlson, one of the most rewarding loyalty programs in the world. The Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group and its brands employ more than 80,000 people.

The Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group is headquartered in Minneapolis, USA, and Brussels, Belgium.